Arnside, Cumbria, Summer
I’ve been guilty of overlooking Arnside in the past.
Lisabet and I have visited Arnside many times, largely for its chippy, but also because it’s the nearest place for us to access the coastline. It’s at Arnside where the River Kent becomes the Kent estuary and drains into Morecambe Bay. Much of the coast around the village of Arnside is therefore mostly comprised of mudflats and quicksand.
But there is so much more to Arnside, once a busy port. For a start there’s Arnside Knott (159 m/522 ft), which Lisabet and I decided to hike up recently. In comparison to the Lakeland fells it’s really not that big, but Arnside Knott makes up for it with incredible panoramic views. The knott is made from limestone, like a lot of rocky outcrops around Morecambe Bay, and features windswept trees bent into weird and fantastic shapes.
Arnside Knott is also surrounded by dense woodland, which we explored. After enjoying the views from Arnside Knott we descended the steep tracks down to Far Arnside, then followed the coastal path back to Arnside courtesy of a narrow, winding, and undulating track with incredible views and amazing coastal woodlands.
All photos shot on a Fujifilm X-T2 with a 16–50mm f/3.5–5.6 lens using a customised Classic Chrome film simulation.
The way up to the summit of Arnside Knott.
Windswept trees looking like they’ve been blasted by a shockwave, shot from the near the summit of Arnside Knott and the views it enjoys.
Lisabet’s happy place: the sea. The shore at Far Arnside is made of smoothed limestone scree, which makes glittering and trickling sounds when the waves lap over it.
The start of the coastal path from Far Arnside back to Arnside. The views across Morecambe Bay get better and better.
Families enjoying the craggy shore near Far Arnside.
My lovely Lisabet, in her element.
A couple enjoy a swim in the sea of Morecambe Bay. In the distance, across the bay, you can make out Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria.
The woodland around the coastal path from Far Arnside to Arnside is largely made up of Ash (Fraxinus excelsior). However, these Ash trees are unusual in that they grow tall and skinny, rather than broad and spread out.
Gorgeous coastline that I never knew existed around Arnside.
Where we came from, looking back towards Lancaster and even making out the sloping hills of the Forest of Bowland.
Arnside Knott above the landscape.